Large Letters

Tuesday, 10 September 2013

I have a lot of wall space in my apartment and I have been pinteresting like mad to try and find something a little different to display in it. As often seems the case, I can never find quite what I am looking for and so I decided to start to make something myself with a ikea box and some inspiration.

I used some left over packaging for this project, but if you don't have any to hand - your supermarket may provide boxes for your shopping, but any strong and sturdy cardboard will do. If you can get it, corrugated card works best for letters [shapes or numbers] that involve any curving.

As I will be using my letter as a stand-alone ornament on a table, I included a straight bottom to act as a stand and give the finished letter balance. Cut out and then use as a stencil to create a duplicate.

There are a number of ways to turn your letter into a 3D letter, I find this method the easiest, however; there are some alternatives at the bottom of this post. I cut a length of cardboard at the width I wanted the depth of my letter to be, so that the corrugated lines ran horizontal:

This is so that I could bend the cardboard incrementally, keeping a curved shape
You can mark and the score lightly any straight edges and begin fixing to one of the letters with tape:

...keep going and you can easily add extra length to the sides if needed by fixing more card
at the join with tape and continuing round:

Once you have the side complete, you could leave your 3D letter as it is, decorate with your chosen method and then fill the open space with items such as paper/pom-pom flowers, woollen pompoms [this would look amazing for that season in December - don't worry, I wont say it yet] - otherwise, place the second letter on top and secure in place with tape all the way around:

If you want a bit of weight to your letter, add something like a bag of rice at the bottom before fixing the second letter cut out.
...and you are complete with the first stage, ready to decorate and cover however you want.
Easy as that - you can create any size you want and it is just as easy to create shapes, which you'll see here soon, or numbers. These are brilliant as a base for wall art, ornaments or to create a word or name - and these look even better if you change the style, size and font of each part.

I'll be back with the decorated letter once I've made up my mind and decided on the style.
See you next time x

Alternative ways to make your letter 3D:

To give your letter more support:

Pad the letter with scrunches of paper/newspaper. Create several balls of newspaper, using the same number of sheets for each, and distribute them evenly along the inside of one of the letter pieces. Secure in place with either glue or tape and then place your second letter on top.

Alternatively, toilet rolls can be cut into equal rounds [cut width-ways] and the placed along the bottom letter, secured into place and then place the second letter on top to create an equal depth throughout the letter.

Now either create the sides with cardboard as above or paper strips:

Paper strips. Cut long paper or newspaper strips and glue to the top of the letter, wrapping around the side, bottom letter and back to the top, continuing to secure in place as you move around the letter with glue. This will add extra strength to the finished letter.

If decorating your letter with fabric, string or wool, you can wrap this around the bottom and top letter without adding sides and where the fabric/string or wool becomes taut, it will create the straight sides for you.

To create rounded edges:

Toilet roll holders are perfect to create rounded edges. Cut a toilet roll holder in half lengthways to create two long curves. Fix each side of the holder to each letter, securing in place on the inside and outside to create the streamline curved shape.

The same effect can be easily recreated with cardboard and the thinner, the more flexible it will be. If creating a rounded edge along a curve in the letter, you may need to do this is smaller sections to follow the letter with a streamline effect, unless you are looking for a more industrial finish, in which you can create block sections and this also works well for.

To strengthen thinner cardboard, cover in tape from the bottom letter, over the curve and securing on the top letter, or add glue and paper strips, which once dry will help strengthen the sides.

Use this as a template or mould:

Keeping the letter open and not attaching the top, you can make sure the sides are completely hole-proof and use this as a mould for plaster of paris - I'm definitely trying this with a star.